Pink Houses

Infobox Single
Name = Pink Houses


Artist = John Cougar Mellencamp
from Album = Uh-Huh
B-side = Serious Business
Released = December 10, 1983
Format = 7" 45 record
Recorded = 1983
Genre = Rock
Length = 4:43
Label = Riva Records
Writer = John Cougar Mellencamp
Producer = Little Bastard, Don Gehman
Certification =
Chart position = Hot 100 #8
Last single = Crumblin' Down (1983)
This single = Pink Houses (1983)
Next single = Authority Song (1984)

"Pink Houses" is a song written and sung by John Cougar Mellencamp. It was released on the 1983 album "Uh-Huh" on Riva Records. It reached #8 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1984."Pink Houses" was ranked #439 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Origins

Recorded in a farmhouse in Brownstown, Indiana, the song was inspired when Mellencamp was driving along an overpass on the way home from Bloomington, Indiana from the Indianapolis airport. There was an old black man sitting outside his little pink shotgun house with his cat in his arms, completely unperturbed by the traffic speeding along the highway in his front yard. “He waved, and I waved back,” Mellencamp said in an interview with "Rolling Stone". “That's how 'Pink Houses' started.” [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnmellencamp/articles/story/6596284/pink_houses Pink Houses: John Mellencamp : Rolling Stone ] ] [ [http://www.mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_john_cougar_mellencamps/ Classic Tracks: John Cougar Mellencamp's “Pink Houses” ] ]

Use in politics

In 1984, Ronald Reagan sought permission from Mellencamp to use the song for one of his campaign ads. Mellencamp, however, would not grant Reagan permission.

In 2004, the song was played at events for John Edwards' presidential campaign. [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnmellencamp/articles/story/6596284/pink_houses Pink Houses: John Mellencamp : Rolling Stone ] ] The song was also used at events for Edwards' 2008 presidential campaign.

"Pink Houses" along with "Our Country" was played by John McCain at political events for his 2008 presidential campaign. Mellencamp contacted the McCain campaign to request that they cease playing his music. [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2008/02/04/mellencamp-asks-mccain-to-stop-using-tunes/ Mellencamp Asks McCain to Stop Using Tunes] ]

Releases on Albums

* "Uh-Huh" (1983)
* "The Best That I Could Do" (1997)
* "" (2004)

References

* [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/johnmellencamp/articles/story/6596284/pink_houses]
* [http://www.mixonline.com/recording/interviews/audio_john_cougar_mellencamps/]

External links

* [http://tabwiki.com/index.php/John_Mellencamp/Pink_Houses "Guitar Chords for Pink Houses on www.tabwiki.com"]